Nearly a quarter of students do not finish their university courses. What is going wrong?

Labour promised to give half of young people a university education. But nearly a quarter of students aren’t finishing their courses. What’s gone wrong?

David McHugh's mind wandered as his lecturer droned on, repeating the words of a PowerPoint slide that the students could already read on the overhead screen.

McHugh was wondering if it was worth it. He had already failed a couple of first-year modules. Should he keep going on a computer studies course that he found disappointing, running up tens of thousands of pounds in debt just so he could tell employers that he had a degree?

The 19-year-old from Cow-bridge, in the Vale of Glamor-gan, has now done his sums and made up his mind: he will leave Swansea this summer for a job in the computer industry.

"There was such strong pressure at school for everyone to go to university," said McHugh, who attended a local comprehensive and had only scraped into Swansea with A-level grades of B, C and E. "At the time I thought it was the